Music News:Ray Charles Foundation Sues his Children

Ray Charles Foundation

The Ray Charles Foundation is suing the late singer's children for trying to take over copyright control of a number of Ray Charle's songs.

It has been reported that seven of the singer's twelve children are currently being sued by the foundation for attempting to illegally gain control of various Ray Charles songs.

It has also been reported that in 2002 Charles gave all his children $500,000 each. The cash however, came with conditions. The conditions stated that they were not allowed to try and seek further inheritance claims in the future.

The Ray Charles Foundation was set up to help youth organisations and to fund research into hearing impairment. The foundation was named the sole beneficiary of the Charles estate.

In accordance with the lawsuit Ray Charles' children applied in March 2010 to gain copyrights of certain songs under the 1976 Copyright Act. The Act allows artists to seek control royalities after a certain time if the value of the royalties has gone up.

The foundation is arguing that because each of Charles' children were given $500,000 before his death in 2004. They have made an agreement that they would not seek further monetary rewards from his musical estate. They are also arguing that because Charles negotiated a new publishing deal in 1980 the “termination of transfer” rule is not relevant here.

The foundation is asking the court to stop the seven defendents from trying to regain control control of the copyrights. They are also asking for the $500,000 from each of Charles' children, as well as court costs.